


Uncaged

by HalfshellVenus



Category: Fringe
Genre: F/M, Het
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-18
Updated: 2011-05-18
Packaged: 2017-10-19 13:16:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/201259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HalfshellVenus/pseuds/HalfshellVenus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Season 3) Peter fell in love with the wrong Olivia.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Uncaged

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Live Journal's **tvnetwork1_las** and the prompt of, _"A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous."_  
>  Also for **writers_choice** ("Open").

When Peter fell in love with the wrong Olivia, it wasn't just the real Olivia who got hurt.

He felt sick when he realized he was with the alternate Olivia, instead. Where was _his_ Olivia? How long had she been missing?

God, was she even still _alive_?

The woman Peter had slept with ( _human_ , he reminded himself, not some creature) had played him like a violin. He didn't know whether she'd ever actually been attracted to him, or whether she'd only hoped to distract him from glimpsing the truth.

That last part had certainly worked.

Now that Peter knew, it seemed as if there were endless aspects of the two Olivias that differed. The way the false Olivia smiled—not with shyness or sympathy, but with cocky confidence—was something his own Olivia could hardly fake, let alone feel. The real Olivia was sincere and compassionate, but the alternate Olivia had tended to be playful. Peter was sure now that her easy laughter had hidden the heart of a snake.

He could've kicked himself for not seeing the whole thing sooner.

When they got the real Olivia back, he had to remind himself not to smother her with all of the passion and relief coursing through him. _This_ Olivia was his friend, not his lover. Everything had to be rewound back to where they'd been before, back when the two of them had danced around their attraction but never actually resolved it.

It made him ache, knowing how much he _could_ have with Olivia, and knowing exactly what he'd lost. The more she learned about the alternate Olivia's time with him, the worse the chances of the two of them ever reaching that point became.

She blamed him for not realizing that the woman he'd bedded was an imposter. She blamed herself for not being that more lighthearted Olivia, the one who knew how to tease and laugh.

It wasn't like that, Peter thought, but how could he make her see it? He'd fallen in love with her—with the real Olivia—a long, long time ago. It just happened that it was the alternate Olivia who'd said _Yes_.

He tried to reassure her, explained himself blue until he ran out of new words to describe the same thing. He finally had to admit that finding their way back from Olivia's feelings of betrayal just might be hopeless.

One day, after a failed blueberry pancake intervention on Walter's part, Peter found himself thinking that he'd been right—that it was time to give up. After spending the morning tiptoeing around Olivia's resistance, it was hard enough keeping his game-face on when all he felt was loss.

As a result, he didn't quite hear what Olivia said about wanting to try out the possibility of a romantic relationship with him, or maybe he _did_ hear it but couldn't actually make himself believe it.

When she leaned in and kissed him, all those unreliable words scattered with the bright promise of the one thing Peter so desperately and truly wanted.

That kiss—hesitant, but hopeful and entirely real—was the heart-stopping way _his_ Olivia finally said _Yes_.

 

 _\-------- fin --------_


End file.
